November 9, 2012

Police report contradicts Mamata Banerjee's claim on Birbhum violence

TNN | Nov 9, 2012, 03.27AM IST

A preliminary police report on the
violence that broke out in Birbhum's Loba village in West Bengal on Tuesday
demolishes Mamata Banerjee's claim that the operation was planned by the
district police on its own and the government was not aware of it.

KOLKATA/BIRBHUM: A preliminary
police report on the violence that broke out in Birbhum's Loba village in West
Bengal on Tuesday demolishes chief minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that the
operation was planned by the district police on its own and the government was
not aware of it.

Taking cue from the police report, a section
of Birbhum police also alleged that it was industries minister Partha
Chatterjee, who had insisted that the police recover Bengal-Emta's earthmover
lying idle in the village. Some of the police officers claimed Chatterjee had
called up now-shunted SP Hrishikesh Meena on October 24 and asked him to
expedite the recovery. Later, Trinamool minister from the district Chandranath
Sinha and party Birbhum president Anubrata Mandal kept up the pressure. Loba
villagers alleged Mandal had accompanied the police force to the village at the
break of dawn on Tuesday. Mandal, however, said he was in Kolkata at the time.

Chatterjee, too, denied the charge after a
detailed discussion with the CM on Thursday. "I did not give any
direction, neither did anyone from my department or the government give any
direction. Investing officers can check my call records. The investigation is
on. Everything will be exposed. I reiterate that the CPM has a hand in the
violence. I can provide evidence to substantiate the claim. Dubrajpur villagers
will meet me tomorrow," he said. He added that Maoists could also have had
a role in the incident.

Sensing the political repercussions of the
case, the chief minister has decided to meet a delegation of Loba villagers on
Friday.

The blame game apart, IG (western range)
Gangeswar Singh, in his preliminary report to ADG (law & order) Surajit Kar
Purakayastha, has put on record the procedures that the district police
followed before they went ahead with the final operation. The procedural communication
and district intelligence report that was sought for days before the operation
leaves beyond doubt that officials in the state administration were kept posted
from time to time. A section of the Birbhum police also claimed that the
accused SP had sent text messages to the police top brass, including director
general of police Naparajit Mukherjee, on the day of the incident at 6.22 am.
The fact that senior police officers had planned for a worst-case scenario is
evident from their sending an executive magistrate with the police force to the
spot, a step that is mandatory for taking action including firing.

Even the political bosses were aware of the
ground realities. Chatterjee had a first-hand experience of the tension
building up in Loba when he visited the village in July. Later, he met
representatives of Loba villagers and PDS secretary Samir Putatunda in the
Assembly where the agitators promised to allow Bengal-Emta to take away the
machinery if the government helped in sorting out the impasse. In September,
villager Felaram Mandal wrote to the CM urging her intervention in the matter.
It didn't catch the CM's attention.

A Left Front delegation led by CPM's Anisur
Rahman visited Loba on Thursday, but were cold-shouldered by the villagers.
"The problem started during the Left Front rule. Since then we have
knocked on the doors of all political parties — CPM, Congress and Trinamool
Congress. All of them assured us that they would take up the cause but didn't
do anything," the agitators said.